Posted on 11/07/2002 4:29:01 AM PST by Liz
It is a dark day for those who despise George W. Bush. Just last Monday, they could still take comfort that he was a rich, dumb Texas cowboy who stole the 2000 election, got fewer votes than the other guy, and didn't have a mandate from the people.
He's got his mandate now. If this man is stupid, where can I get stupid pills?
The man who wasn't running for anything was the biggest winner on Tuesday. And, once again, the critics are eating his dust. Take Florida, home of the hanging chad. The President's smarter brother's job was on the line there. The Democrats pulled out all their heavy guns. Bill Clinton told everyone in Florida it was payback time for being robbed in 2000. Jeb won by 13 points. Some squeaker.
The experts said Mr. Bush would be spanked for the economy, for the stock market collapse, for corrupt businessmen. But the voters had something more pressing on their minds. It's the national security thing, stupid. And in their view, Mr. Bush has that one about right.
The ruling party generally loses ground in midterms. Presidents are supposed to stay above the fray, so they don't blow their personal capital. Mr. Bush ignored this wisdom. He stumped night and day and kissed a thousand babies. And he picked up seats in both the House and Senate, something no president has done since Franklin Roosevelt.
Clever people like to skewer Mr. Bush for his goofs and gaffes. That is a major error. He is a masterly communicator. Journalists on the campaign trail, even hostile ones, marvel at his ability to connect with people. He speaks in plain and simple language, and they like the man and they like the message.
"See, it's a different kind of war we face," he told one crowd. "In the old days, you could destroy tanks or airplanes or boats and know you're making progress. But these are the kind of people who hide in caves and send youngsters to their suicidal deaths. They don't care."
"I'd invite him over to my house for a cup of coffee," said one middle-class mother. "Despite his family background, he seems like a common man."
Americans are not bloodthirsty. There is no war fever. There is no consensus in favour of a war, and most people don't want their government to act unilaterally. A lot of Americans don't mind the United Nations. But if it comes to war, they trust in Mr. Bush to fight it, and if he can't get the UN on board, so be it.
Mr. Bush's triumph sends a powerful message to America's opponents at the UN. The Europeans can't kiss him off as a gunslinging accidental president any more. He's got the nation behind him, and they know it, and that makes it far more likely he'll be able to strike a deal.
Mr. Bush may be the genetic heir of his father, an East Coast elitist so out of touch with coffee-drinking moms that he was baffled by a scanner in a supermarket checkout line. But he's the political heir of Ronald Reagan, another lucky dummy with the common touch.
Mr. Reagan's Chauncey Gardnerish manner made him the laughingstock of the liberal intelligentsia, who are still trying to explain how he got re-elected in a landslide. His widely deplored arms buildup brought about the end of the Soviet Union, which collapsed one day like a piece of rotten fruit. The intelligentsia didn't see that one coming, either.
Mr. Bush's triumph was mightily abetted by the Democrats, who ran a whiny, idea-less campaign. They whined about the economy and tax cuts but didn't say how they would fix the economy or whether they would raise taxes. They whined about Iraq, then voted for the Bush strategy. They also had some sleaze problems, such as their flagrant flouting of New Jersey election law and their unseemly political pep rally at the graveside of their dead candidate, Paul Wellstone. Voters said yech.
Meantime, minority voters, who are always good news for Democrats, stayed home. Maybe they noticed that, when he picked his inner circle, the good old Texas frat boy was colour blind.
The most important way his critics get Mr. Bush wrong is to paint him as a megalomaniacal imperialist, who wants to use the unparalleled might of the U.S. to trample over the entire world.
Actually, he's not an imperialist. He's a genuine idealist, who wants to spread democracy and freedom because he thinks those things would make people happier and better off and the U.S. more secure.
There are experts who think this view is stunningly naive, and that certain regions and cultures (the Arab ones, for example) simply aren't up to it. The experts may be right. We'll find out.
Meantime, no matter what you think of George Bush, there's one thing worth keeping in mind: Everyone so far has spectacularly underestimated him.
mwente@globeandmail.ca
Doncha love it? :D
Bush has some Reagan in him, I also see some "Give' Em Hell" Harry Truman there as well. He also was a man who was made fun of and underestimated, a plain-talking, tough man. Credit for the stunning GOP success must also go to Karl Rove, clearly the best operative since Lee Atwater. But mostly people just like and trust President Bush. I had a chance to meet him for a nanosecond at a political event, and watch him interact with people as I waited to have my picture taken with him (in 2000, when he was running) He's a warm, friendly (not smarmy) man who looks you in the eye. He made everyone there feel that HE enjoyed meeting THEM. Didn't seem to have a pretentious bone is his body.
WAHOOOOOO .. You got that right!!!
hehe
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